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He doesn’t meet my eye. He doesn’t bother with the shot in front of him either. “Shouldn’t you be bussing tables or something?”
I nod. “I help out the staff around here sometimes. It’s a family business.” I glance around the place. “Won’t be playing hockey forever. Maybe I’ll take over for the old man someday. Hell, maybe I’ll even come to you for advice on running a business.”
His jaw tightens and he stands.
“Sit down, Beau.” The command comes from my father. Beau might have been the football team captain back in his day. But he wouldn’t fuck with a world-champion boxer.
“You can’t keep me here.”
“Of course not,” I start. “We’d never force anyone someplace they don’t want to be. Would you?”
“I didn’t turn her in, Reeves.”
“Someone did. Someone took her from us, Beau. And the media’s been quiet for over two days.”
Beau’s Adam’s apple works and his hands roll into fists.
“Tell you what, Beau. I’m willing to comp Mr. Kingsly his stay here so he doesn’t tack it onto your bill. And then maybe my son here could talk his brother into looking over your loan to see if he can get you a deal. Tell us why he thought you’d be paying out today.”
He taps his foot under the table nervously. “Yeah, someone did. But it wasn’t me. It couldn’t have been me. Because I didn’t get the money.”
I lick my lips. “Then who did?”
“Pepper did. She turned herself in and got the money.”
I lift my gaze to the lying bastard.
He shifts and holds up his hands. “All I had was the pictures. I didn’t want to tell them where she was staying. I thought I could give them the photos and then warn Pepper. I’d pay off my debt and she’d still be able to get away.”
Dad puts a hand on my wrist when it twitches. “Then what happened?”
“A few days ago, when I called the number displayed on the screen, they came back and said it wasn’t enough to claim the reward, they needed her. I took a few days to think about it. So this morning… I decided to tell them I was mistaken, that the woman in the photo isn’t who they were looking for.” He sighs. “They said it didn’t matter. Penelope Walker returned to Virginia and the money is going to her.”
“Get out,” I growl.
“Hey, you said you’d have your brother help me.”
I walk away and hear my father reassure him in the background that he’ll do what he can—before gently asking Beau to leave.
I say let the fucker drown in his debt.
Dad returns to the bar.
“He’s lying. They’re lying. Pepper wouldn’t have gone back. She was taken. He took her, Dad.”
My father lifts his hands and presses down. “Keep your voice down.”
“I have to find her.”
“You will. But you need to calm down.”
“Fine. What do I do?”
“Take what you know and fill in the missing pieces. We know Mayfield was tipped off—probably with Beau’s photos. My guess is they had people everywhere within a day. Knew they were looking for a redhead this time, spotted her and followed her until she was alone.”
There’s a beat before he asks, “Any idea why she snuck out of Lonnie’s place?”
“She didn’t turn herself in for the money, Dad.”
